The High Court deferred till November 30 the hearing on an appeal filed by former President HM Ershad against his three years’ jail sentence in a corruption case in 1992. A single bench of the HC comprised of Justice Ruhul Kuddus deferred the hearing till the date following a time petition made by Advocate Sirajul Islam seeking four weeks of time on the ground of illness of his client. Earlier, the same bench of the HC fixed November 15 for hearing on the appeal following a petition filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) for fixing a hearing date.
Advocate Sirajul Islam, who represented the former president, told the courts, “The appellant is now sick. I need to talk with him for taking direction for taking part in the hearing. Hence, I need four weeks times.” ACC lawyer Khurshid Alam Khan opposed the time prayer.
Later, the court fixed November 30 for hearing on the appeal. Jatiya Party Chairman Ershad was accused of over Tk 1.91 crore financial irregularities in the case filed with Cantonment Police Station on January 8, 1991. A Dhaka court in 1992 convicted former president Ershad in the graft case and sentenced him to three years in prison for misappropriating Tk 1.91 crore by misusing power while being the president of the state. The court also directed the authorities concerned to confiscate the money and a Toyota Land-Cruiser jeep from him. However, the High Court stayed the execution of the verdict following Ershad’s appeal the same year.